Local filmmaker makes the cut – again

Jan. 21, 2013

Updated 1:17 p.m.

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Aliso Niguel High School graduate Bryce Hirschberg with his parents, Jim and Jodi Hirschberg, at Loyola Marymount University School of Film and Television's annual Film Outside the Frame Film Festival held at Paramount Pictures. COURTESY OF LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY

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Bryce Hirschberg, an Aliso Niguel High School and Loyola Marymount University graduate, is in KCET's Fine Cut Series, which airs Feb. 7. COURTESY OF LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY

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Bryce Hirschberg, an Aliso Niguel High School graduate, accepts the award for Best Picture at Loyola Marymount University School of Film and Television's annual Film Outside the Frame Film Festival held at Paramount Pictures. COURTESY OF LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY

Aliso Niguel High School graduate Bryce Hirschberg with his parents, Jim and Jodi Hirschberg, at Loyola Marymount University School of Film and Television's annual Film Outside the Frame Film Festival held at Paramount Pictures.COURTESY OF LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY

Bryce Hirschberg doesn't have any intention of breaking laws and creating counterfeit money. But, he got the chance to pretend in his short film, "Counterfeiters."

The film debuts in KCET's Fine Cut on Feb. 7, the channel's annual festival of films from film schools throughout California.

The 11-minute film shows a gang of young counterfeiters hanging out in a Los Angeles hotel where they create fake small bills, like fives and tens. Hirschberg's character is introducing a new guy to the team and showing him the ropes. They think they're getting away with it, but Hirschberg said there is a moral to the story – which we won't spoil.

Hirschberg, an Aliso Niguel High School and Loyola Marymount University graduate, filmed the movie in one-continuous shot. That might seem like a feat behind the lens but Hirschberg isn't just the director, he's the lead actor.

"I wanted to prove you could keep an audience's attention without ever cutting," the 22-year-old said.

One-continuous take means that if there's a mistake – you start from the top.

Hirschberg said the team only had to film seven times. The last was due to a quick transition to the hotel elevator. As they turn the corner, they see a line of nearly 10 impatient maids, waiting for the elevator.

"I knew from day one that it was going to be in the festival," Bohdan Zachary, KCET vice president of broadcast, syndication and program development, said. "There's an immediate confidence... that it's done in one continuous shot and moves so smoothly through so many different locations without missing a beat is a technical accomplishment."

The film also won Best Picture Award at LMU's Film Outside the Frame Festival and it was named Best Experimental Film by the California Film Awards.

Hirschberg did his research for the film, compiling a big book of everything he found.

"Who is going to make 100s? Everyone is going to check that. It's protocol," he said. "What if you made fives?"

He had table reads and asked friends to test the film's plots. He added details such as a shot of the team passing around clean bills to add fingerprints.

"If you're the only person that touched it, then you're going to get caught," he said.

This isn't Hirschberg's first time in the limelight. He was recognized in 2011 for his short film "Baer," getting attention at the AOF International Film Festival, International Vegas Cine Fest and Los Angeles Movie Awards, among others.

His parents Jim and Jodi Hirschberg, Laguna Niguel residents, are very supportive of him. His dad even makes a cameo in the film as a security guard.

His father introduced him to the KCET Fine Cut a few years ago.

"I said my film could get on there. Four years. Just watch," he said he told his dad.

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